Physics Study Guide/Greek alphabet

About the Common uses in Physics While these are indeed common usages, it should be pointed out that there are many other usages and that other letters are used for the same purpose. The reason is quite simple: there are only so many symbols in the Greek and Latin alphabets, and scientists and mathematicians generally do not use symbols from other languages. It is a common trap to associate a symbol exclusively with some particular meaning, rather than learning and understanding the physics and relations behind it. +Greek AlphabetCapital Lower case Name Common use in Physics 1.5em 1.5em alpha Angular accelerationLinear expansionCoefficientAlpha particle (helium nucleus)Fine Structure Constant 1.5em 1.5em beta Beta particle — high energy electronSound intensity 1.5em 1.5em gamma Gamma ray (high energy EM wave)Ratio of heat capacities (in an ideal gas)Relativistic correction factor Shear strain 1.5em 1.5em delta Δ="Change in" δ="Infinitesimal change in (), also used to denote the Dirac delta function (reference needed)" 1.5em 1.5em epsilon EmissivityStrain (Direct e.g. tensile or compression)PermittivityEMF 1.5em 1.5em zeta (no common use) 1.5em 1.5em eta ViscosityEnergy efficiency 1.5em 1.5em theta Angle (°, rad)Temperature 1.5em 1.5em iota The lower case is rarely used, while is sometimes used for the identity matrix or the moment of inertia. Note that is not to be confused with the Roman character (which has a dot and is much more widely used in mathematics and physics). 1.5em 1.5em kappa Spring constantDielectric constant 1.5em 1.5em lambda WavelengthThermal conductivityConstantEigenvalue of a matrixLinear density 1.5em 1.5em mu Coefficient of frictionElectrical mobilityReduced massPermeability 1.5em 1.5em nu Frequency 1.5em 1.5em xi Damping cofficient 1.5em 1.5em omicron (no common use) 1.5em 1.5em pi Product symbol Circle number 1.5em 1.5em rho Volume density Resistivity 1.5em 1.5em sigma Sum symbolBoltzmann constantElectrical conductivityUncertaintyStress (Direct e.g. tensile, compression)Surface density 1.5em 1.5em tau TorqueTau particle (a lepton)Time constant Shear stress 1.5em 1.5em upsilon mass to light ratio 1.5em 1.5em phi Magnetic/electric fluxAngle (°, rad) 1.5em 1.5em chi Rabi frequency (lasers)SusceptibilityMole Fraction 1.5em 1.5em psi Wave function 1.5em 1.5em omega Ohms (unit of electrical resistance)ω Angular velocity See Also Greek alphabet on Wikipedia Greek letters used in mathematics, science, and engineering